This application claims priority to French Application No. 99/01579 filed on Feb. 8, 1999, by the same inventors and having the same title as above, the entire contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns articular and ligament rehabilitation of the upper limbs, and more particularly, the rehabilitation of such limbs by the passive motion method.
Such method consists of placing the upper limb in a splint that is comprised of articulated segments reproducing and giving effect to complex scapular-humeral articulation, as well as to the equally complex ulnar articulation. The design of these articulated segments is such as to allow the arm and forearm of the upper limb to be moved by means of variable speed motorized devices in specific angular ranges in the principal movements considered, effected independently or concomitantly, which movements are abduction-adduction, horizontal flexion-extension, internal-external rotation of the forearm, and even the pronation-supination of said forearm.
2. Description of the Related Art
Splints able to meet these requirements, taking into account the anatomical characteristics of the articulations of the upper limb, are well known and can be considered to meet the objectives.
In general, due to their functionality such splints are heavy, relatively bulky, and for some, can only be used with a right or left upper limb.
In practice up until the present, the implementation of such passive motion splints was generally done within a medical or paramedical environment, in specialized structures and by personnel specifically trained in that regard.
Advances made in servo technology, motorization control and adjustment devices adapted to said splints have opened a door to a different practice consisting of providing a patient with a passive motion rehabilitation splint along with an implementation protocol that the patient himself can adapt to.
Given the formulation of such a proposal, the question arises of making such a splint personally available to a patient, it being understood that, in any event, the use of such a splint is temporary.
This is the reason there has been a trend toward offering upper limb motion splints for rent, so that each patient concerned can have temporary access to the equipment he needs to follow the rehabilitation protocol appropriate to him.
Although such practice of making available a passive motion splint would seem to be satisfactory, in practice, it has two principal difficulties.
The first concerns the bulkiness and weight represented by such passive motion splints for an upper limb, a bulkiness and weight that generally hamper a flexible, fast and effective rental service that only requires a simple means of transport for the patient.
The second is that of having equipment that can meet rental needs that are difficult to foresee, for rehabilitation of either the right or left upper limb.
These two obstacles appear to be a serious hindrance to the development of the rental practice.
The object of the invention is precisely to overcome the problems posed by current passive rehabilitation equipment, by proposing a new upper limb rehabilitation splint that has relatively small overall dimensions, can be installed and used practically and quickly, and can be used in the rehabilitation of either a right or left arm, subject to adaptation adjustment. Such adaptation adjustment is most often left to personnel responsible for the first installation who can, from a single set of identical machines, meet all rental demands that could arise completely randomly.
In order to achieve the foregoing objectives, the splint for passive motion of an upper arm, of the type having an ante-brachial segment and a brachial segment that are relatively adjustable for flexion-extension and are adapted to a frame for support and motion in (independent and/or simultaneous) movements of horizontal flexion-extension of the upper limb, abduction-adduction of said limb, internal-external rotation of the forearm, and even pronation-supination, is characterized in that said frame comprises:
a substantially vertical arm held by a frame which is intended to be placed in relation to the back of an associated chair and which has at least one upper extension, provided at the end with a pivot that has a substantially vertical axis, known as horizontal flexion-extension of the upper limb and oriented toward the front of said seat,
an arch that is mounted on the pivot by means of a drive motor for the horizontal flexion-extension of the upper limb,
and an upper structure supporting the ante-brachial and brachial segments and having a housing adapted to the arch, a drive motor for abduction-adduction of the upper limb, mounted in the housing and an arm linking said motor to the brachial segment.